Stanford Commencement 2018

At Stanford’s 127th Commencement, Stanford alum and multi-award-winning actor Sterling K. Brown told graduating students of the Class of 2018 that if they find that purpose in life that gives them access to maximum enthusiasm, trust it.

Stanford University’s 127th Commencement weekend, June 15-17, 2018, featured an inspiring speech by Sterling K. Brown, Stanford alumnus and award-winning actor. He told the graduates to think of perfection like an asymptote. “The journey toward it is infinite, but the destination can never be reached.” University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne shared his hope that Stanford had prepared the graduates for a life of purpose and continual exploration. Saturday’s Baccalaureate speaker, poet and scholar Elizabeth Alexander, called for actions that are fair, just and kind.

Stanford begins its Commencement ceremony every year with a fun, very nontraditional procession into the stadium known as the Wacky Walk. Videographer Kurt Hickman captured some of the highlights from the 2018 event.

Among this year’s treasured items: cloth leaves from the Stanford Tree mascot’s costume, a classroom clicker, seeds from campus trees, a well-loved straw cowboy hat and the key ingredient for boba tea along with a recipe.

Graduates of the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences are poised to thrive amid a “scientific revolution” being driven by new technologies and computational power, according to Dean Stephan Graham.

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